NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Sunday that President Trump’s high-stakes meeting with President Vladimir Putin will test whether the Russian leader is serious about ending the war in Ukraine.

Mr. Rutte said Mr. Trump has set the table for the meeting by ratcheting up the pressure on Mr. Putin through increased tariffs on India over its reliance on Russian energy and agreeing to send lethal weapons to Ukraine.

“Next Friday, it will be important, because it will be about testing Putin,” Mr. Rutte said on ABC’s “This Week” of the scheduled meeting in Alaska. “How serious he is about bringing this terrible war to an end?”

In preparation for the meeting, Mr. Rutte said that Ukrainian and European leaders had “successful” talks on Saturday with Vice President J.D. Vance in London.

He stated that he hopes the Trump-Putin meeting will move the ball forward to full-scale negotiations that address Ukraine’s security concerns and whether Ukraine would cede land as part of a peace deal.

“It will be, of course, about security guarantees, but also about the absolute need to acknowledge that Ukraine decides on its own future,” he said. “That Ukraine has to be a sovereign nation.”

Mr. Trump has been here before.

In 2018, he met with Mr. Putin for two hours behind closed doors.

Mr. Trump scored headlines after saying he trusted the Russian president’s assertion that Moscow did not meddle in the 2016 election and was accused of being too chummy with Mr. Putin.

The relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin has since evolved.

Mr. Trump has recently been more critical of Mr. Putin and more willing to air his frustration with Moscow’s deadly actions in Ukraine.

“I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” Mr. Trump has told reporters. “He is killing a lot of people. I don’t know what is wrong with him.”

Still, after announcing his meeting with Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump said he believes Mr. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “to see peace.”

Mr. Trump also has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Mr. Zelenskyy, who last week shot down Mr. Trump’s suggestion that a land swap would likely be part of a final peace deal.

On Sunday, Mr. Rutte rejected the idea that a final deal risks rewarding Russia for invading Ukraine.

“No, I don’t think the risk is there,” he said. “We have seen President Trump putting incredible pressure on Russia.”

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.